Physical layer communication technologies can employ bitloading to control the rate of data that is carried over a respective channel. For instance, control algorithms can set the number of bits on a given channel based on a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) determined for each channel. As one example, the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) standards allow bitloading of each subcarrier to be controlled based on the physical characteristics of the path between transmitting and receiving nodes.